Darting: Tax Preparer Kicks Into High Gear For Procrastinators

Pam Cloud has been a feature writer for the Times Record since November 1997. Pam has won awards from the Arkansas Press Association for tourism coverage and feature writing and has received two Redbud Awards for coverage of travel opportunities in Oklahoma. A native of Stigler, Okla., Pam has a bachelor's degree in journalism from Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Okla., and previously worked for at the Stigler News-Sentinel.

The tax preparer was up to his armpits in files, statements and receipts when I darted by his office off of Towson Avenue near Dodson and 12th Street this week. He claimed he was the “master of vertical filing.”

“Most people just call them stacks,” said Alan, 68, the widowed father of three and grandfather of six.

A Richfield, Utah, native, Alan was transplanted to Texas as an adolescent and moved to this area in 1972.

“My brother and I came up here to take over half of the family business,” said Alan.

While running the family business, Alan also worked sexing turkeys, separating the toms from the hens. And he dabbled in tax preparation with the business he and his brother had — first as a partnership then as a corporation.

“I wasn’t qualified to do corporate tax returns,” explained Alan. “I didn’t feel like I knew much about taxes.”

He was eager to learn and H&R Block offered a tax school. He took personal tax courses, but wanted to complete the courses on partnerships and corporations. Employees took the courses for free.

“So I became an employee,” Alan said, adding that he worked for H&R Block for six years. “I never did get to take one of those classes because they put me teaching them.”

He eventually received his accounting degree and passed the CPA exam in 1986. He opened Herring Saylor & Associates in 1989, offering tax preparation and other financial services. He just recently moved the business, now Herring & Associates, from its North Greenwood location to a smaller office on Dodson Avenue just off Towson, where Julie Rucker joins him in tax preparation.

It’s a busy time of year for Herring, spending 12-16 hours a day six or seven days a week at the office.

“Tax preparation … is not rocket science,” he said. “I can say that because I went to college to be a physicist, so I’ve done rocket science. But what I can bring to the table that most preparers don’t is I’ve had a sole proprietorship, I’ve had a corporation.

“I bring that experience to the table,” he added. “The mistakes I made I can keep you from making.”

His advice is to check with your tax preparer before making any type of big transaction, purchase or business deal. “Maybe he can tell you how to do it that will work out best for you,” he explained. “Once you do it, we’re all obligated to follow the law.”

Alan said the first four months of the year actually have three different seasons for the tax preparer.

“Most tax preparers do half of their business from the last week of January to the first two weeks of February,” Alan explained. Those are the people who know they’re getting a large refund and want it right away.

The next wave comes from mid-February to the first of April.

“Those are your middle-class people, usually both people working with a home mortgage and it takes a while for them to gather all their paperwork,” Alan explained.

“Then from April 1 through 15, you deal with the procrastinators,” he added, noting those are usually the people who owe money and don’t want to pay until the last possible minute.

And Alan admitted he has to deal with his own procrastination as well.

“I’ve got more than 50 returns sitting here on my desk,” he said. “Now I’ve got to find the energy here in the last week.”

After next week — and after the Tax Day total lunar eclipse expected Tuesday — Alan will get back to his favorite hobby of golf.

“From January to April 15, there’s not many days I can play golf,” he said, noting his handicap is now 5 or 6. “But when April 15 comes — although I’m open all year long — if you want to see me, call first, because if somebody wants to play golf, I’ve already left.”

Who will I happen upon next and what will they be doing? Stay tuned to this space and find out as I meander through neighborhoods near Ellsworth Road and Interstate 540. That’s where Alan’s dart landed on the map, so that’s where I’m darting next.